There is a club or team for virtually every area of interest, and all of our students – from Kindergarten to Grade 12 – are encouraged to explore and develop all passions and talents, both new and longstanding.

We want our graduates to shape our world, to serve, and to lead.

The program is structured for students to define their priorities, acquire research skills, and learn to make important decisions in an environment of teamwork and community support.

Post-secondary counsellors start meeting with students early in their academic careers. Through one-on-one meetings, information sessions, and collaborative gatherings with their teachers, students learn to increase their self-awareness, discover their passions, and define their post-secondary goals.

The program is structured for students to define their priorities, acquire research skills, and learn to make important decisions in an environment of teamwork and community support. It is our goal that students choose universities where they will be creative, active contributors who thrive and excel.

By starting the process in a student’s grade 10 year, along with engaging them throughout the entire process, students become more responsible for their grades and learning, while meeting application requirements. The post-secondary search process is thorough and all-encompassing.

The Search Process

Early on in their academic career, students are encouraged to make long-term commitments to creative, activity, and service. Students are also expected to take on leadership opportunities and to strive for academic excellence. In Grade 10, students officially begin working with their Post-Secondary Counsellor.

The search officially begins! Students are enrolled in their Planning 10 Class and start learning about themselves, what careers they might pursue, and what universities they might attend. Students take aptitude and personality tests to increase their self-awareness, begin career exploration, and take part in an extensive university search which is led by and tailored to each student’s desires and interests. Students will finish the course with an initial university and faculty list.

To complement the research phase of the process, students are encouraged to start taking active steps towards building their portfolios: documenting their extracurricular activities, opting to write the pSAT, and more.

Meadowridge hosts several university visits each year, and students are encouraged to begin attending university fairs. Information is also provided to families to make the most out of university visits, including what questions to ask and what to look for.

Students complete their Grade 10 Planning Course by completing their IB course selection. Information sessions about the IB and university admissions are followed up by one-on-one family meetings.

Starting in Grade 11, students are helped through the academic transition to the Diploma Programme. Students have one-on-one meetings with their counsellor and program director to decide their direction for their senior years. Students also begin learning about standardized testing, including the SAT, ACT, BMAT, LNAT, TSA, and UKCAT; scholarships opportunities; and application requirements.

Our counsellors also host workshops to set students up to begin their application writing supplements over the summer before Grade 12.

Students begin refining and re-evaluating the work completed in their Grade 10 Planning Course, including their university and faculty list, by attending further university fairs and touring local universities. Students are also guided to create a list of application deadlines in order to manage their time come fall.

Students who wish to apply to universities in the United States and the United Kingdom are supported as they begin drafting their application essays and gathering references.

In the Spring of grade 11, students and their parents will meet with their counsellor to refine their university list, prepare their application timeline, and clarify the university application process.

In the Fall of their Grade 12 year, students are supported through the application process to their select universities, including applications for housing, scholarships, and financial aid.

As part of the process, students are able to get feedback on their written essays and work with counsellors to refine their writing and get their essays prepped for send off. Students also work with counsellors to identify key references and how to go about requesting a reference letter.

In the Spring of Grade 12, students meet a new challenge: deciding which offers to accept. Students are supported by counsellors through the entire decision-making process, and consider multiple factors, including financial implications.

Parent Resources

Parents are an important part of the post-secondary application process, and our counsellors work with both student and parent from onset. Parents are supported through group information meetings, one-on-one individual meetings and joint meetings with their child.

Counsellors have a variety of resources and readings to help educate the entire family on everything they’ll need to know about their child’s next step.

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learning to live well, with others and for others, in a just community

Meadowridge is an independent, private, coeducational, secular, preparatory, International Baccalaureate (IB) school teaching students from Junior Kindergarten (pre-k) to Grade 12, located in British Columbia near Vancouver. Meadowridge was founded in 1985 and has a current enrolment of 635 students representing over 40 nationalities.